Michael Jackson's Legacy in the HIV Movement
The 1980s were vibrant and turbulent. Tumultuous, even.
Early in the decade, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, and racism largely prevented HIV/AIDS from immediately attracting mainstream attention. Let's not forget the stigma against drug users. In May 1981, The New York Native first reported on the mysterious disease thanks to gay medical providers and community-oriented journalists. Next, The New York Times published an article titled "Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals" based on the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report in June 1981. A commercial diagnostic test didn't emerge until 1985. By then,15,527 cases of AIDS were reported and 12,529 people had died. Still, President Ronald Reagan hadn't mentioned the word "AIDS" publicly until 1987. Consequently, policymakers neglected the condition even as thousands of people were dying. Meanwhile, Dionne Warwick's all-star ballad "That's What Friends Are For" topped the Billboard Hot 100. The song was released for charity and raised $3 million for HIV research.
Artistically, 1980s music videos were vibrant. New sounds collided in chaotic melodies. The hottest stars of the day included Madonna, Tiffany, Prince, George Michael, Whitney Houston, and Culture Club. Meanwhile, Michael Jackson was the King of Pop: a showman with crisp precision and uncanny smoothness. Whether with his siblings, his contemporaries, or alone, he entertained millions, leaving lifelong memories. Many of his songs were unforgettable smash hits. Off stage and outside the studio, recipients and his public relations team documented and amplified Jackson's philanthropic activities. Jackson used his voice for various causes, namely HIV awareness and establishing a legacy as a humanitarian.
Jackson, who was close friends with actress Elizabeth Taylor, most likely took a cue from Taylor's HIV advocacy and began his own. Taylor was a co-founder of the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) and its founding international chairman. She corralled many of her connects to join her especially following fellow actor Rock Hudson's death shortly after he announced his HIV diagnosis in 1985.
"Rock Hudson's death was The Big Bang of American consciousness about the impact of AIDS," Louie Ortiz-Fonseca remembers.
Ortiz-Fonseca is a queer storyteller and pop music archivist, as well as the founder of Songs That Soundtracked the AIDS Crisis on Instagram. They became a consummate pop culture magnet, growing up in a household stocked with the "Thriller" VHS -- an essential in Reagan's American Dystopia. They also had the red Thriller jacket; so did their next-door neighbor. Ortiz-Fonseca remembers Jackson entering the HIV discussion when Ryan White's story hit the airwaves. At 13 years old, Ryan White, a hemophiliac, was diagnosed with HIV following a blood transfusion. Parents campaigned to have White kicked out of his school in Kokomo, Indiana, though he posed no threat to his fellow students. The legal battle thrust White into the national spotlight. White, as well as Hydeia Broadbent, were poster children of HIV directly affecting those society saw as innocent. Elton John and Jackson reached out and offered support, with each forging a friendship with White respectively.
White died in 1990, five years after his diagnosis and one month before his graduation. That same day in early April, Jackson chartered a private jet to Indiana. His limo caravan, with a police escort in tow, pulled up to the White home. Jackson's acquaintance, Donald Trump, accompanied him and was unusually demure -- not at all bombastic. White's mother, Jeanne, stands at the door. Jackson and she tearfully embrace. Moments later, Jackson and Ryan's family come out to the yard. There, on the lawn, is a red Ford Mustang parked, which Jackson gifted the sportscar to White for his 16th birthday. Flowers and cards are arranged in front of the Mustang as a makeshift memorial. Jackson slides into the backseat, seemingly focused on the stereo. Word has it, Jackson's "Man In The Mirror" was playing in the tape deck. Neighborhood children watch from across the street.
Jackson recorded “Gone Too Soon” as a tribute to White. The song was originally on the UK version of his "Dangerous" album then released as a single on World AIDS Day, December 1, 1993 in the U.S.
“If you wanted someone to continue to raise awareness or to bring AIDS into your home, into your radio in 1992, we needed motherfucking Michael Jackson to do that,” Ortiz-Fonseca said. “No one else was going to be able to do that.”
The song rang differently coming from Jackson, they added. The music video, which included footage of White and Jackson together, made the song even more heartfelt.
Ortiz-Fonseca offers their perspective on Jackson's legacy in HIV.
"If All Lives Matter wasn't so bad, he would be the King of All Lives Matter. We don't say that because we don't like that, but that was his essence," Ortez-Fonseca said. "I don't remember thinking, oh, wow, he's doing AIDS now. It was already in concert with what his overall humanistic messaging was, especially around young people."
“Jackson, who was close friends with actress Elizabeth Taylor, most likely took a cue from Taylor’s HIV advocacy and began his own.”
"Michael's star power, his humanist vibe, was never questioned. People questioned his sexuality, his identity, his mental stability, but they never questioned his love for humans and his love for children. I think that's the legacy of Michael that I don't think gets raised enough, especially during that time when I think that AIDS is the leading cause of death for anybody who's walking and breathing to the corner store to buy a pack of cigarettes."
Jackson continued to lend his star status to the fight against HIV. Even while contesting abuse allegations against him, he joined the Congressional Black Caucus in pushing President George W. Bush on The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), originally a five-year, $15 billion pledge to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa. To date, PEPFAR has expanded to 50 countries with $110 billion funded, and is credited with saving 26 million lives through a variety of prevention, care and treatment strategies.
Jackson and his iconic contemporaries braved HIV/AIDS stigma by hugging people living with HIV and standing alongside those conveniently "othered" for a health condition. Their notoriety fostered solidarity, care, awareness, and advocacy while pushing against alienation. Surely, this move placed them and some of their peers under stigmatizing suspicion regarding sexuality and lifestyle. They did it anyway and should be remembered for it.
